The present invention relates to an invisible mounting system of the type used for shelf brackets, and more particularly such a mounting system which is easy to mount on a wall or like support.
In the past, in order to invisibly hang a shelf, one utilized a standard keyhole plate containing a pair of outer circular apertures and therebetween a keyhole designed to stood slightly in front of the wall when the plate was mounted. On the back of the bracket a rearwardly projecting key was provided, the key being configured and dimensioned to fit into the keyhole slot of the plate (between the plate and wall) after the plate was fastened to the wall using screws or nails passing through the two outer circular apertures. The attempt to fit the key (hidden behind the bracket) into the keyhole slot of the plate (also hidden by the bracket) was a xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d operation and thus difficult and timeconsuming.
More recently, the xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d operation has been eliminated by providing the bracket with a stationary hanger having three circular apertures axially aligned along a longitudinal axis of the hanger. The stationary hanger comes with the bracket and is pre-affixed thereto by nails or screws passing through the two bottom circular apertures and into the bracket. As the top portion of the hanger containing the top circular aperture extended above the bracket, to hang the hanger/bracket assembly on a wall, the mounter had only to fix the assembly to the wall, using a screw or nail passing through the top circular aperture of the hanger. This was easy to do as the third hole was visible, peeking over the top of the bracket. The shelf was then placed on top of the bracket with the thickness of the shelf being sufficient to cover the top portion of the hanger containing the top circular aperture, thereby rendering the mounting xe2x80x9cinvisiblexe2x80x9d.
The improved mounting system was not entirely satisfactory from the point of view of either the manufacturer or the mounter. The bracket mounting system (with the hangers already attached to the bracket) was typically sold in paperboard boxes, or, more economically, simply with a clear plastic wrap or covering thereon, thereby to enable viewing of the system by a potential purchaser. As the top end of the hanger (that is, the portion of the hanger containing the top circular aperture) extended beyond the bracket, it frequently resulted in tearing or puncture of the paperboard or plastic packaging during rough handling or shipment of the packaged mounting system.
The bracket of the improved mounting system was often provided with a recess on the upper surface thereof for receiving the bottom half of a dowel, but it was necessary for the mounter to drill a corresponding dowel-receiving recess in the bottom surface of the shelf, over the bracket recess, so that a dowel could be used to fix the position of the shelf relative to the bracket and prevent the shelf from accidentally horizontally sliding off the bracket. As there was no uniform distance for placement of the bracket recess away from the wall, the mounter had to use a drill to create the recess in the shelf bottom surface a corresponding distance away from the wall. This required the use of a drill, and a certain amount of skill with the drill; it was both time-consuming, arduous and often challenging for the mounter.
Further, even in the improved mounting system, the mounter was forced to hang the mounting system on the wall in the orientation selected by the manufacturer (who placed the hanger on what was to be the wall-facing edge of the bracket). Especially where the bracket had two short orthogonal edges of unequal length or where the design of the bracket along the long hypotenuse edge was not symmetrical about its midpoint, the consumer might prefer hanging the bracket in an orientation different from that intended by the manufacturer, either to better match the width of the shelf to be placed thereon or to present the design on the long hypotenuse edge of the bracket differently.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easy viewing invisible mounting system wherein in a preferred embodiment the hanger is easily mounted on the wall because the hanging (top) aperture thereof extends above the horizontal edge of the bracket for easy viewing during the mounting procedure and yet is entirely covered by the shelf which is later placed on the bracket.
Another object is to provide such mounting system which in a preferred embodiment enables the mounter to decide the orientation of the bracket on the wall.
A further object is to provide such a mounting system wherein in a preferred embodiment prior to use no portion of the hanger projects outwardly from the bracket, thus reducing the likelihood of tearing of the package.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a mounting system wherein in a preferred embodiment the relative positions of the shelf and the bracket may be fixed without the use of a dowel or drilling of a dowel-receiving recess in the shelf.
It is another object to provide such a mounting system which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and use.
It has now been found that the above and related objects of the present invention are obtained in an easy viewing invisible mounting system according to the present invention. In a preferred embodiment thereof, the mounting system comprises a right angle bracket, a substantially planar and longitudinally extending hanger and a pair of fastener means. The right angle bracket defines a vertical edge for facing a wall and a top horizontal edge for supporting a shelf or the like. The substantially planar, longitudinally extending hanger defines, adjacent a top end thereof, a circular aperture configured and dimensioned to receive a fastener therethrough to mount the hanger on the wall, and, remote from the top end thereof, a longitudinally aligned and spaced apart pair of elongated slots oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the hanger. Each fastener means of the pair extends through a respective one of the slots and secures the hanger to the bracket vertical edge while enabling limited relative vertical sliding movement of the hanger and the bracket along a longitudinal axis of the hanger. Thus, the hanger may be slid in one direction for storage with the entirety of the hanger disposed on the bracket vertical edge or slid in the opposite direction to expose the aperture above the bracket for viewing during mounting of the hanger on the wall.
The aperture and the pair of slots are vertically aligned along a longitudinal axis of the hanger. Each of the slots has a longitudinal length at least equal to the longitudinal length between the hanger top end and the bottom of the aperture. Preferably, the aperture and the slots are each countersunk on at least one side of the hanger, and the bracket vertical edge defines a recess configured and dimensioned to receive the hanger with the hanger top end flush with the bracket top horizontal edge.
A preferred embodiment includes a second hanger and a second pair of the fastener means, the second pair of the fastener means securing the second hanger to the bracket top horizontal edge. The second pair of fastener means enables limited relative horizontal sliding movement of the second hanger and the bracket along a longitudinal axis of the second hanger, whereby either the hanger or the second hanger may be used to mount the bracket on the wall, as desired by the mounter thereof. Preferably, one of the slots of the second hanger is a keyhole slot having a relatively wide central keyhole and a narrow portion communicating with and extending toward the bracket vertical edge. One of the second pair of fastener means has a shank and an enlarged head, the shank initially extending through the central keyhole. The one fastener means is removable from the keyhole slot by the user and the shank is then securable by the user to the bottom surface of a shelf such that the enlarged head thereof projects downwardly from the bottom surface of the shelf for insertion through the central keyhole and thereafter for sliding movement forwardly into the narrow portion of the keyhole slot as the shelf is placed downwardly on the bracket top horizontal edge and thereafter slid towards the wall with the enlarged head being trapped by the narrow portion of the keyhole slot.
Preferably, one of the slots of the second hanger is a double-ended keyhole slot having a relatively wide central keyhole, a first narrow portion communicating with and extending toward the bracket vertical edge, and a second narrow portion communicating with and extending away from the bracket vertical edge. One of the second pair of fastener means has a shank and an enlarged head, the shank initially extending through the central keyhole. The one fastener means is removable from the keyhole slot by the user and the shank is then securable by the user to the bottom surface of a shelf such that the enlarged head thereof projects downwardly from the bottom surface of the shelf for insertion through the central keyhole and thereafter for sliding movement forwardly into the first narrow portion of the keyhole slot as the shelf is placed downwardly on the bracket top horizontal edge and thereafter slid towards the wall with the enlarged head being trapped by the first narrow portion of the keyhole slot.
The present invention further encompasses, in combination, a pair of the mounting systems and a shelf adapted to be mounted generally horizontally on the wall by the mounting systems, the shelf being sufficiently thick to conceal the hanger top ends from view when the shelf is mounted on the bracket top horizontal edges. Preferably, the system additionally including a dowel, the bottom surface of the shelf and the bracket top horizontal surface each defining an aperture configured and dimensioned to receive therein a respective end of the dowel.
In a further preferred embodiment, the system additionally comprises a substantially planar, longitudinally extending second hanger defining adjacent a top end thereof, a second circular aperture configured and dimensioned to receive a fastener therethrough to mount the second hanger on the wall, and remote from the top end thereof, a longitudinally aligned and spaced apart pair of elongated second slots oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the second hanger. The system further comprises a pair of second fastener means, each second fastener means extending through a respective one of the second slots and securing the second hanger to the bracket vertical edge while enabling limited relative sliding movement of the second hanger and the bracket along a longitudinal axis of the second hanger. Thus, the second hanger may be slid in one direction for storage with the entirety of the second hanger disposed on the bracket vertical edge or slid in the opposite direction to expose the second circular aperture above the bracket for viewing during mounting of the second hanger on the wall.
In an alternate embodiment, the substantially planar, longitudinally extending second hanger on the other bracket edge is stationary and defines a second aperture and an elongated second slot oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the second hanger, the second slot of the second hanger being a keyhole slot having a relatively wide keyhole and a narrow portion communicating with and extending toward the one bracket edge. A pair of second fastener means is provided, one of the second fastener means having a shank and an enlarged head, the shank thereof initially extending through the keyhole. The other second fastener means extends through the central aperture and secures the second hanger to the other bracket edge. The one second fastener means is removable from the keyhole slot by the user, the shank thereof then being securable by the user to the bottom surface of a shelf or the like such that the enlarged head thereof projects downwardly from the bottom surface of the shelf for insertion through the keyhole and thereafter for sliding movement forwardly into the narrow portion of the keyhole slot as the shelf is placed downwardly on the other bracket edge and thereafter slid towards the wall with the enlarged head being trapped by the narrow portion of the keyhole slot.